The LA Chargers schedule for the 2023 season has officially been released and as always, the team's social media team did an excellent job of putting together a viral release video that is going to get widespread attention. The Bolts went with an anime release video for the second year in a row.
While that is always fun, diehard fans are already diving into the Week 18 slate and looking at all the challenges and hurdles that the Bolts might have to endure. We already knew who the team was going to play but the exact order of these games certainly does matter. It can make a huge difference on the outcome of a season.
Chargers schedule 2023:
- Week 1: vs Miami Dolphins
- Week 2: at Tennessee Titans
- Week 3: at Minnesota Vikings
- Week 4: vs Las Vegas Raiders
- Week 5: BYE
- Week 6: vs Dallas Cowboys (MNF)
- Week 7: at Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 8: vs Chicago Bears (SNF)
- Week 9: at New York Jets (MNF)
- Week 10: vs Detroit Lions
- Week 11: at Green Bay Packers
- Week 12: vs Baltimore Ravens (SNF)
- Week 13: at New England Patriots
- Week 14: vs Denver Broncos
- Week 15: at Las Vegas Raiders (TNF)
- Week 16: vs Buffalo Bills (Saturday on Peacock)
- Week 17: at Denver Broncos
- Week 18: at Kansas City Chiefs
There is a lot to digest. As we do every year, let's dive into all 17 games for the Bolts and predict the team's final record for the 2023 season.
Predicting the outcome of every game on the Chargers schedule 2023:
Week 1 vs Miami Dolphins - WIN
Beating the Dolphins on Sunday Night Football was one of the best wins in 2022. There were some irresponsible narratives surrounding Justin Herbert heading into that matchup and he proved in that game that he is a legitimate elite quarterback. His opponent, meanwhile, did the opposite.
While Miami was a hot team last season, it still feels like they lost some steam this offseason. The team did add Jalen Ramsey but there is still a massive question mark at the quarterback position with Tua Tagovailoa revealing that he contemplated retirement this offseason.
Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins will adjust but Chargers fans should be confident in how Staley will gameplan against Tua.
Week 2 at Tennessee Titans - WIN
Talent-wise, you would think that the Tennesee Titans are primed to be one of the worst teams in the league. However, they still have a really great coaching infrastructure and while he is past his prime, Derrick Henry can still carry this offense when the going gets tough.
That being said, the Chargers already proved last season that they can put together a great game plan to beat Henry and the Titans. Sure, this game is going to be on the road but with an improved (and hopefully healthy) offensive line, the Chargers should be able to give Herbert a clean pocket to make it impossible for Tennesee to keep up scoring-wise.
Tennessee seemingly doesn’t even know who its starting quarterback will be when these two teams play. That is always a great sign.
Week 3 at Minnesota Vikings - WIN
The Minnesota Vikings might have been the worst 13-win team in NFL history last season. That was evident in the playoffs when the Vikings lost to a New York Giants team that was completely underqualified and made the playoffs because of good coaching (with not that much talent).
The NFC North is wide open this season (which is good for the Chargers as that means there is not a dominant team) and the Vikings have to be one of the favorites to fall down the standings and miss the playoffs.
Minnesota is not going to have the luxury of an easy schedule in 2023 and while the Chargers will be on the road, the Vikings have to deal with an indoor Justin Herbert that should be able to tear this Minnesota defense apart. After all, Kellen Moore’s Cowboys dropped 40 on the Vikings last season.
Week 4 vs Las Vegas Raiders - WIN
The Raiders somehow got worse at quarterback, going from one mediocre quarterback in Derek Carr to another in Jimmy Garoppolo. Carr was able to split the season series against the Chargers in each of the last two years but was unable to get a victory in Los Angeles.
Jimmy G is not going to be the one to break that trend as he too will fall victim to the Chargers at least once in 2023. Vegas undoubtedly got worse this offseason while the Chargers, at the very worst, remained the same. The Bolts are the superior team.
Week 6 vs Dallas Cowboys - WIN
You already know that Kellen Moore is going to pull out all the stops and get creative in this matchup against his former team. While things seemed to end on good terms, Mike McCarthy wanted to take control of the offense and Moore definitely should want to stick it to his former employer.
If this game was in Dallas then there would be a much better case to be made about the Cowboys winning. It will certainly still be a close game but the Chargers are essentially a better-built version of Dallas. We will still take Moore and Herbert over McCarthy and Dak Prescott.
Week 7 at Kansas City Chiefs - LOSS
The Chargers' first loss of the 2023 season comes all the way in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. While beating the Chiefs on the road in Arrowhead would be great, it is probably too much to ask for the Chargers to start 6-0 with a win over the Chiefs.
But by the time this games rolls around it will be the most highly-anticipated game of the entire slate. The undefeated Chargers (so we hope) vs the defending Super Bowl Champions. While it ultimately won't go in the Bolts' favor, it will be a great showing that foreshadows what is to come in their second matchup.
Week 8 vs Chicago Bears - WIN
The Chicago Bears were the worst team in the league last season and while they made strides in improving, they are probably a few steps away from being a legitimate contender. Granted, in the very weak NFC North, the Bears could shock the world and make some noise.
But these two teams are simply on different tiers. It could be a tough matchup as Chicago will be running-focused and the Chargers are geared to stop the pass. That being said, as long as the team doesn’t shoot itself in the foot, the Bears shouldn’t be able to keep up with LA’s offense.
Week 9 at New York Jets - LOSS
Aaron Rodgers is now a member of the New York Jets and that is going to turn them into a legitimate contender in the AFC next season. Granted, Rodgers took a step backward last season and he isn’t going to be the MVP version of himself next year but the team around him is so much better than last year’s Packers.
Rodgers has passing weapons, a legitimate running game and a top-five defense. Talent-wise, the Jets look like the 2020 and 2021 Packers. They may not have a top receiver in the league in Davante Adams but they still have an elite defense.
This should be a very entertaining game but with the Jets having home-field advantage and the Chargers being a West Coast team traveling East it is going to be an uphill battle. Hopefully, LA can get the Jets back in the playoffs.
Week 10 vs Detroit Lions - LOSS
The Detroit Lions are one of the most exciting teams in the NFL and are the favorite “dark horse” pick among NFL pundits this season. What a lot of these pundits forget is that it doesn’t count as a dark horse if every other pundit in the media world is also picking them as a dark horse.
The Chargers will probably be around four-point favorites over the Lions at home in this matchup and while they should win on paper that is not how the NFL season works. There are always games that can go either way that unfortunately don’t fall for the Bolts.
There will be several games this season in which it does fall for the Bolts (which is indicative by our final record prediction). We predict this game to go the other way.
Week 11 at Green Bay Packers - WIN
Playing in Lambeau Field is never easy but it certainly is easier when Jordan Love is the quarterback instead of Aaron Rodgers. That is not to say that this will be an easy matchup for the Chargers but if the team is going to make the playoffs then it needs to win a game like this.
The last time the Chargers played at Lambeau Field was eight years ago and while the team lost, it was a memorable game for fans. Keenan Allen went off in that game, finishing with 14 catches for 157 yards. LA shouldn’t need that kind of game this time around but fans would definitely still take it.
Week 12 vs Baltimore Ravens - LOSS
Justin Herbert has only played the Baltimore Ravens once in his NFL career and it was an absolute nightmare. Coming off of that huge 47-42 win over the Cleveland Browns in 2021, Herbert and the offense could not do anything with Mike Williams hurt the following week. The Chargers lost 34-6 in what was the second-worst loss of Herbert’s starting career.
We cannot predict health and while the Bolts get the benefit of this game being at home, it is still a bad matchup for the team. Brandon Staley historically has done poorly against long-tenured head coaches that are considered among the best in the sport. John Harbaugh is one of those coaches.
We would love to be proven wrong but history tells us that Baltimore will come into this game more prepared as a unit and will eke out the victory on the road.
Week 13 at New England Patriots - WIN
We can’t go with chalk for every single game and a lot of people who predict outcomes would probably circle this game as a trendy game to pick against the Chargers. After all, it is the New England Patriots on the road. Bill Belichick has historically succeeded against the Chargers.
It probably isn’t chalk to pick the Chargers as oddsmakers know this and will likely make the Patriots favorites at home. As long as the Chargers are mostly healthy, though, they simply have more talent than the Patriots and should be able to will their way to an ugly win on the road.
It will be closer than it has any right to be but we are talking about Mac Jones vs Justin Herbert here. C’mon.
Week 14 vs Denver Broncos - WIN
Last year’s game at SoFi Stadium was a close one as it went into overtime and looked like it was going to end in a tie until Deane Leonard and Ja’Sir Taylor made a heads-up play on special teams and recovered a muffed punt.
That game went down for Dustin Hopkins’ kicking heroics as he drilled four field goals on a bum hamstring. Hopefully, this time around it won’t take that much drama as the Chargers should be able to take care of business at home against Russell Wilson and Sean Payton.
Week 15 at Las Vegas Raiders - WIN
The Raiders have been able to split the season series with the LA Chargers in each of the last two seasons. In fact, the Chargers have not beaten the Raiders in both games since the 2018 season when the Bolts went 12-4 and made the playoffs under Anthony Lynn.
It has been a half-decade and it is time for the Chargers to break that streak. While Raiders fans are going to come into the 2023 season with the utmost confidence (what’s new?) it is hard to see a world in which they are actually a solid football team next season.
Sure, anything can happen on any given Sunday and nothing is guaranteed. But at long as the Chargers are healthy and still have something to play for then it is very hard to see Jimmy G of all people beating the Bolts.
Week 16 vs Buffalo Bills - LOSS
This is the early favorite for the Chargers’ best game of the year. Of course, the matchups against the Chiefs are always fun and can yield a lot of offense but this game in particular is a fresh matchup that is going to capture the imaginations of NFL fans.
Justin Herbert and Josh Allen have squared off once but it was in Herbert’s rookie season in 2020. The Chargers were already pretty bad at that point and Allen was in the process of making that jump to be an elite quarterback. He still hadn’t fully won over NFL fans.
Things are completely different three years later as these are two quarterbacks who can do things athletically and with their arms that very few could do. Both offensive coordinators will let their QBs cook in this game and it is going to be a very fun one regardless. We have the more-experienced Bills team coming out on top.
Week 17 at Denver Broncos - LOSS
We would love to predict the Chargers to go 2-0 against the Denver Broncos in 2023 but Denver is a very hard place to play. Just look at last season. The Chargers played their starters in a meaningless Week 18 game and still lost to Denver.
Granted, the starters were eventually pulled after Mike Williams suffered the most needless history of the 21st century for the Chargers, but the Broncos were still able to end the season on a high note.
While Sean Payton alone won’t fix all of Denver’s problems in 2023, he will do enough to help them win a home game against their division rivals.
Week 18 vs Kansas City Chiefs - WIN
The Chargers host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18 which will definitely mean something regardless of what happens. At this point in the prediction, the Chargers will have a 10-6 record and might have an outside shot of winning the division with a win.
Even if the Chiefs have the division locked in, there will almost certainly be playoff-seeding implications for both teams, especially with there being only one first-round bye. This is not a prediction based on the Chiefs' potentially resting starters. This is the Chargers beating the Chiefs with both teams playing all their starters.
It will be a huge win for the Bolts that will give them momentum as they likely head into the playoffs with a final record of 11-6.
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